Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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Update: There's an update at the end of the post.

Knowing the rules is important. If you break the rules, you can get in trouble. If you know the rules, you can work within them or around them. Then when you get in trouble, you can know where the line is. This is all very important when it comes to Kijiji, Kijiji deleting ads and Kijiji banning users.

That's all well and good, until the people who enforce the rules make new ones up on the fly, or dig up a master rule that overrides all the ones that make sense.

Case in point ... an ad I posted a week ago. Totally within the rules, as far as I was aware, but it got removed anyway. Let's follow along and find out why, after the jump ....

Here's the ad in question:

Nothing there that breaks the rules, right? If anything, maybe someone was offended by Les Paul's arthritic hand. It would be quite a stretch to complain that I didn't personally capture that photograph of the late guitar hero Les Paul myself.

Certainly, as we've seen here, people have asked for obscene amounts of things, including cars. Nothing says you can't ask for free stuff.

Sadly, within days, after hundreds of hits on the ad, I received this email:

Dear Kijiji User,

We have just deleted one of your Kijiji Ads for one or more of the following possible titles:

* it was posted in the wrong category (for example a resume posted as a job)
* it was posted on the wrong city site
* the item is sold or no longer available
* the Ad contained misleading or incorrect information (for example it was listed as free when that isn't the case or the price was obviously wrong or it stated it was sold by an owner when in fact it was sold by a dealer)
* it was a personal opinion note or a warning message that wasn't posted in the discussion forums.
* it was slanderous or malicious

The ad that was removed from Kijiji was:

"Guitar strings. On a Les Paul-style guitar." (Ad ID #247056979)

Please feel free to correct the issues with your Ad and repost it. To find the best possible category for your ad, we suggest you search for related ads and see where they are posted.

If, in your opinion, we were unjustified in removing your Ad you can contact us at:
..
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

The Kijiji Team
www.kijiji.ca

Really?

It was posted in the right category (Musical Instruments > Guitars), in my city, it's a Wanted item, it contains correct information, was not a warning or personal opinion, nor slanderous or malicious. Totally valid ad.

Maybe they made a mistake? It's happened before.

I've gone over the list that was sent re: reasons my ad may have been deleted, and am fully confident that none of them apply.

My ad has been deleted in error.

Please restore it today.

If the ad was indeed in violation of any Kijiji policy, please be specific about the issue and I will correct it immediately.

All the best,
..me

I figured that would put things on the road to getting things back in line. But I got this reply...

Thank you for contacting Kijiji Canada Community Support. Asking for a free les paul guitar is a little much...

Best regards,

Derick
Kijiji Canada

Whuh?

Please state the policy applicable to my deletion, or reinstate the ad. I'm quite familiar with the rules, and don't recall anything saying ads that are "a little much" are disallowed.

Cheers,
..Me

Seriously, "a little much"? As far as I'm aware, I'm the rules-crazy guy who knows the rules, flags ads and is passionate about order and good governance of advertisement. But little did I know....

We reserve the right to remove any ads we feel may have a negative impact on the Kijiji community and the site itself.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best regards,

Derick
Kijiji Canada

So, there you have it. Final judgement from Derick. Asking for a guitar makes Derick feel that the community or the site is in danger.

If you ever ... ever ... ever wonder why Kijiji erased your ads ... first, check the actual rules. Most ads that are deleted are deleted because they broke clearly defined rules. One ad, one city, one category, one account: good. Multiple instances of the same product or service, multiple ads, multiple categories, multiple cities: bad, and you can be banned. That's most of them.

But if they just don't like what you're up to, remember: they have this rule in their back pocket that can wipe your ad *just because*.

---
Update:

Just got a note from Derick above:

After speaking with my colleague, the reason your ad was deleted is because of the picture you used. I was mistaken and for that, I'm sorry.

You should be able to repost your ad if you change the picture. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best regards,

Derick
Kijiji Canada

Still not sure if it was because of Les Paul's craggy fingers, or the fact that it wasn't an originally-photographed-by-me image, but perhaps I'll try reposting the original shot I used, with a craggy tongue instead:

Many thanks to Kijiji for updating the case, although I hate to think that it was because I'm such a squeaky wheel. There are many users who are more meek and voiceless who'd never get that kind of attention.

We removed your ad because you are now posting innapropriate mocking ads about our company. As such, you have now been banned from posting on our site.

We thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

MeganKijiji Canadawww.kijiji.ca

Clearly she hadn't thought this one out, see had banned me from posting, then claimed (falsly) I had posted mocking ads (again a lie)

So now say hello to SS. You contact my on Twitter offering to help, now you cower. I do realize it looks like you only go after sitting duck posters and not rogue Kijiji staffers or volunteers. Are you involved with Kijiji?

Well saying they are strat copies maybe a little slanderous even if its only just expressing your own personal opinion. Never mind Cleary asking even for knock off versions which is illegal you would think in most places. I'm surprised the staff didn't know that but I have to laugh all they could point out was using a possible copyrighted photo. Who complained though you wonder, because ads like these are what keeps the rest of us entertained on a Monday morning at work. Well it does for me anyway since my job is to read complaints and flagged reports on some websites. Thankfully not any classifieds sites yet though. Although its similar in a way since it includes some dating sites.

KIJIJI NOt ANYMORE! I had an ad for 30 days I paid for as a top ad and in more than one city, I spent over $150.00 in advertising with these (*****) in a few days and they removed all my ads and I have yet to see a refund!

I am so tired of kijiji and everything about them. Its just crazy! Canada kijiji OWNED by ebay as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijiji

Anonymous, you can't buy your way out of the rules. If you pay $150 to run an ad, that doesn't excuse you from the requirements that the ad be local, appropriate and otherwise within the rules. When you accept the terms of service, you're agreeing that your money WILL NOT be refunded if your ad is removed for breaking the rules.

Honestly, if you post an obscene picture (third finger depicted), vulgar, illegal, or immoral, of course they would take it down, so what did you expect with the first picture, really? There are already many scammers out there like Steve Fisher, aka Danny Day and who knows how many other aliases he's been using. Just put up listings that are clear and honest and you are good. Post otherwise and you are being just another putz. Post duplicate listings and the same is true. Just follow the rules and everyone benefits?

Kijiji is refusing to allow an ad for hose painting services. I tried it with and without pics, with and without phone# in ad. Nothing works always promptly deleted and help desk is not working or not answering???? I would kill the account but you can't do that either!

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